Darryl Strawberry concerned for Dwight Gooden's life after event no-show
An event designed to tell stories and hopefully put some smiles on faces took a troubling turn on Thursday when former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden failed to show up.
According to the New York Daily News, Gooden was scheduled to reunite with former teammate Darryl Strawberry for a live WFAN interview hosted by Joe Benigno. However, moments before the event’s scheduled start time one of Gooden’s representatives reportedly called to inform the station that Gooden would be late. A short time later, the same representative called again to inform WFAN that Gooden would not appear at all.
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Naturally, this has led to concern about Gooden’s overall well-being. It’s well-documented that both he and Strawberry have struggled with drug addictions. Their addictions and troubled pasts were a big focus of the recent ESPN 30-for-30 documentary “Doc and Darryl,” and likely would have been discussed to some degree again during Thursday’s scheduled 75-minute interactive interview.
Now though, the focus and concern is centered on the here and now, with Strawberry being the first to admit that he’s worried about Gooden’s mindset and well-being moving forward.
“I’m worried. A lot,” Strawberry said while fulfilling his commitment on Thursday night. “It’s a real struggle. It’s very difficult to talk about because I know the drill, I know the deal. It’s very sad. It’s hard. ‘Cause even though we weren’t as close, like everybody wanted to make us out to be, he’s a friend. And it’s a very challenging, very difficult time of his life. It’s tough.”
“It’s really, really, really tough to sit here and just know that he was supposed to be here, too, and he’s not here. It’s really tough. And I think a lot of times people just keep thinking it’s all right, and it’s not all right. My fear is that — and I know addiction — and my fear is people that don’t change, they die. They die this way. I just hope the light comes on soon before it’s too late.”
The Mets have been celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1986 World Series championship team this season. Both Gooden and Strawberry were a huge part of that team’s success, but the inability to handle success has always been at the core of their off-field issues.
By 1986, Gooden had already won a Rookie of the Year and Cy Young award while being named to three All-Star teams. He was only 21. Strawberry himself was a Rookie of the Year and a four-time All-Star at age 24. They both rode that wave together, and will forever be connected in ways few others could understand.
That’s what makes Strawberry’s concern both genuine and genuinely concerning. He understands the mindset and knows the pitfalls that must be avoided to stay clean one more day. As he’s said, here’s hoping Gooden is able to avoid those pitfalls himself. If not on Thursday or Friday, then hopefully before it proves to be too late.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
